Archibald wins World Cup omnium silver on home track

10 November 2017 / 22:52

This year has already seen special memories made for Katie Archibald and now she can add Track World Cup omnium silver on home soil to the tally - but for the reigning world champion, it wasn’t quite enough.

Having sat out the leg in Poland last week, this was Archibald’s first World Cup appearance of the season, reserved for the Manchester track she calls home.

Wearing the rainbow jersey, she opened her omnium campaign with a fourth-place finish in the scratch race, before placing second in the ensuing tempo race.

But it was the elimination race in which Archibald really came into her own, lifting the Manchester crowd onto her feet with an astonishing attack over the final two laps to win.

That placed her just six points shy of the USA’s Jennifer Valente heading into the final event of the omnium - the points race.

Two sprint wins in a row saw Archibald come within just two points of the lead, before narrowing that further to one, making for a tense finish.

But in the end, Archibald couldn’t hold out as Valente took the title, Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen placing third.

“When we got to that final sprint, I knew I only needed one point,” she told British Cycling.

“We had Valente on the back foot and I knew I had to start getting ready to punch it.

“I didn’t have the strengths to play against her - we’ve both got the same cards and she played them better.

“I hesitated in the scratch race and I think that’s probably the thing I’m kicking myself about most.

“But it was all there in the points race and it didn’t go my way.”

Elsewhere on day one at the National Cycling Centre, Great Britain’s men’s team pursuit quartet sealed their place in the gold medal final with a remarkable victory over France, knocking more than two seconds from their qualification time.